Over 76 lakh tonne paddy procured in Punjab

Chandigarh: Over 76.2 lakh tonne of paddy has been procured in Punjab this season, Food and Supplies officials said on Sunday.

Over 99 per cent of the paddy has been procured by government agencies while the remaining has been procured by private millers.

Paddy procurement started in the agrarian state on October 1 but the bulk of stocks started coming after October 10.

The Central government had sanctioned a Cash Credit Limit (CCL) amount of Rs 29,695.40 crore for procurement of paddy in the kharif marketing season 2018-19 though the Punjab government had demanded Rs 40,300 crore.

The Punjab government has made arrangements for a bumper procurement of 200 lakh tonne of paddy this season.